ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean saved his speed for the very end. He knocked off teammate Colton Herta on the last lap of Saturday’s Firestone Fast Six to win the pole for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“We worked really hard on the car,” Grosjean said after scoring his second career NTT IndyCar Series pole. “Same last year, really good end of year. We got here, I said to the boys, ‘Yeah, we’ve got something.’ We pulled it out. I knew last year something was just not coming my way. We worked hard, and we found something. It’s kind of a home race. I live in Miami.
“Got 100 laps tomorrow to make it happen.”
It was actually the “Firestone Fast Four” as two of the drivers in the “Fast Six” failed to complete a lap.
That included Andretti Autosport driver Kyle Kirkwood, who crashed the No. 27 Honda in Turn 14 and destroyed the front suspension of the car. The other incident was defending St. Petersburg race winner Scott McLaughlin, who crashed in Turn 12 and spun off course in Turn 13.
Neither driver continued and it was fought out between two Andretti Autosport teammates, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson.
On Grosjean’s final lap of qualifications, he whipped off a lap at 59.5532 seconds around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course that includes Albert Witted Airport and the streets of St. Petersburg. His top speed was 108.810 mph. Grosjean’s No. 28 DHL Honda was four-tenths faster than Herta’s lap at 59.9687 (108.056 mph) in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda.
“On that last lap, I was useless as gum on a boot heel,” Herta said. “We’re still in a great spot. It’s a pole we definitely could have gotten. I just made a mess of the lap. Yeah, that was a bad lap. I did everything wrong on that lap as I possibly could.”
It was Andretti Autosport’s fifth pole in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“I’m very bullish on the series,” Andretti said. “It’s the best racing in the world and I feel really good about the future.”
O’Ward was third in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP at 1:00.0163 (107.971 mph).
“Man, those Andretti cars are quick around here,” O’Ward said. “We knew that coming in the weekend. The team arrived with such a good package. Last year, truly started on the back foot. We’ve got a car to fight with tomorrow. I’m really, really happy with it. It’s all about executing, I’m excited about tomorrow. Black (tire) race. See a lot of two-stoppers. We’re starting out front.”
Ericsson, winner of last year’s Indianapolis 500, was fourth in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing. His speed was 1:004435 (107.208 mph). He was serenaded by a colorful group of his fans from Sweden, all wearing “Beanies” with propellers on top.
“Some of them are from my hometown,” Ericsson quipped. “They rented a house here and are pretty loud and very supportive. It’s a very good start. Talking about qualifying average to get that up. Worked really hard on setup and understanding the tires. We are better prepared for qualifying.
“Extremely happy with P4 and we can win from there.”
Keyword: Grosjean Scores Second Career IndyCar Pole